Rox: We 'haven't played our best ball yet'

Despite recent slide, Colorado content with first-half performance

By
Alex Espinoza

June 28, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- When looking at the current state of the Rockies, it's easy to dwell on their eight-game losing streak after they dropped a 5-3 contest on Sunday's series finale at AT&T Park.But don't think that the club has forgot about all of its success during those first 73

SAN FRANCISCO -- When looking at the current state of the Rockies, it's easy to dwell on their eight-game losing streak after they dropped a 5-3 contest on Sunday's series finale at AT&T Park.But don't think that the club has forgot about all of its success during those first 73 games of the year. Despite the current skid, the Rockies (47-34) are still a major force in the ultra-competitive National League West, which is home to three of the top four teams in the NL by record."I think we're what, like, [13] games over .500?" Rockies star third baseman Nolan Arenado said. "To sit here and complain about that would be pretty bad. It's pretty good, and we haven't played our best ball yet. It's a good thing, a great thing, actually. In terms of offense, I know we're not clicking the way we should. We've pitched better than we have. We don't even have [Carlos Gonzalez] back yet and [Trevor] Story hasn't got [going]. We've got to click, get going a little bit more. Hopefully we'll start getting hot and doing what we know we can do."

As Arenado referenced, the Rockies' offense has been struggling during the losing streak. Over the past eight contests, Colorado has been outscored, 66-23, averaging just 2.9 runs per game.But manager Bud Black isn't about to hit the panic button any time soon."If our record in the second half of the season is just like the first half, we'll take it," Black said. "That's a good season, and we'll take our chances with what happens late in the season. In the present, it's rough. It's rough sledding right now. But the big body of work has been solid. Look where we are in a lot of categories both offensively and defensively, and with pitching. We're doing good things. That will be reflected in our win-loss record."Black has a point. Despite their recent malaise, the Rockies finished Wednesday's action as the No. 2 hitting club in the NL (.268) and tied for the third-most runs scored (410). For now, the Rockies are staring up at the Dodgers and D-backs in the division standings.The Rockies will try to snap their losing streak on Friday in Arizona, when they open up a three-game set against a familiar foe. Veteran Ian Desmond, for one, is confident that Colorado can bounce back."Yeah," Desmond said. "You look around the clubhouse, and we've got probably one of the best collections of players that I've played [with] in my career. Every position has a special player. That's pretty good."

Alex Espinoza is a contributor to MLB.com who covered the Rockies on Wednesday.